The present invention relates to a movable rack for an electric household appliance, in particular a dishwasher, and to the relative wheels.
As is known, dishwasher racks comprise a number of longitudinal and transverse rods welded to one another to form a grille, and are normally mounted on wheels for easy removal to load and unload the machine. The wheels are mounted on supporting rods having a vertical fastening portion fixed to the grille, and a bent L-shaped end projecting outwards of the rack.
More specifically, each wheel is connected to the respective supporting rod by a connecting member fitted to the bent end and retained by click-on retaining tabs cooperating with the vertical fastening portion. The connecting member also has a pin on to which the respective wheel is fitted.
The above system involves several drawbacks, one being the necessity to produce the wheel and the connecting member in two separate parts using two different industrial manufacturing processes. Also, the wheels must be preassembled to the respective connecting members prior to fixing the connecting members to the bend ends of the supporting rods.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dishwasher rack designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks, and which, in particular, is cheap and easy to produce.
According to the present invention, there is provided a movable rack for an electric household appliance, in particular a dishwasher, comprising a number of wheels connected to said rack by respective supporting rods, each having a fastening portion and a bent end bent substantially at a right-angle; said wheels comprising respective hubs connected to respective said bent ends; characterized in that said bent end of each of said supporting rods is located a predetermined distance from a respective longitudinal member of the rack; said wheels each comprising spacing means projecting axially from and connected integrally to a respective said hub to form a single component, and which are arrested against said longitudinal member of the rack; and said spacing means extending to such an extent that an axial dimension of each said wheel is greater than said predetermined distance.
More specifically, said spacing means comprise at least one elastic member.
The wheels may therefore be fitted straight on to the respective supporting rods, with no connecting members required, and may advantageously be formed in one piece using simpler, cheaper manufacturing processes.